Free Keeping Secrets in Seattle by Brooke Moss

am.”
    My eyes bugged out of my head. “Nudes?”
    Alicia waved a hand, dismissing me. “They were for an avant garde pictorial. There’s no porn in my background, I promise.”
    I shook my head and sipped from my glass. “No, I wasn’t—”
    “I’m Alicia’s cousin.” Marissa’s voice was loud and commanding. “She’s told me everything about you, you know.”
    I nearly choked on my mimosa. “Oh, yeah? Such as?”
    “Apparently you and Gabe have been friends since you were, like, ten, right?” Marissa folded her tanned arms. Who in Seattle, in the middle of February, was tan? Really?
    “Six.” I bit the inside of my cheek.
    “You two are, like, best friends, right?” She eyed my hat with disdain.
    I tugged at the collar of my shirt. “Is it hot in here? Um, yes. Nobody knows me like Gabe does.” As soon as I said it, I cringed. Talk about opening myself up for scrutiny.
    “Right.” She flared her nostrils. “So anyway, you guys know each other inside and out?”
    I shifted in my seat and laughed. “Listen, I know Gabe really well, but not to the extent that he and Alicia know each other. I mean, some things just come with being in an actual relationship, you know?”
    The other girls nodded in unison, and I released a breath of relief.
    “Did you guys go to school together?” Shawn asked.
    I nodded. “Yes. Clear until our junior year.”
    “And you guys were neighbors,” Alicia pointed out, her mouth tightening.
    “Yes.” I gulped. They should hang a single lightbulb over my head and slap me every time I answer.
    “What’s his favorite color?” Marissa snapped.
    “Gray,” I answered without thinking.
    Kate nudged Shawn with her elbow. “What’s his shoe size?”
    “Eleven and a half.”
    Shawn tilted her head at me curiously. “What’s his favorite food?”
    “What’s his biggest pet peeve?” Marissa polished off her mimosa.
    Rose sneered. “What brand of toothpaste does he use?”
    I noticed that Alicia’s eyes were round and the corners of her mouth were turned down, and felt sorry for her despite myself. It had to be embarrassing to be shown up by your fiancé’s female best friend. “His mother’s homemade lasagna, he hates it when people snap their gum, and he uses Crest.”
    All five women at the table stared at me in silence.
    “Anyway…”
    “But wait.” Rose the roommate pointed her finger at my face. “Didn’t you and Gabe date at one time?”
    My stomach turned. Alicia knew about Gabe and me dating? Well, of course she knew that Gabe and I were more than friends for a brief time. They were engaged, for Pete’s sake. I wondered how much detail he’d shared with her. Did he tell Alicia how much I’d loved him, and how much it destroyed me when it ended? Did he share with Alicia how awful those months afterward were?
    I could feel the weight of all their eyes on my face. “I…I don’t know if I would call it dating.”
    Marissa tapped a fingernail on her glass. “Well, what was it, then? If it was significant enough for Gabe to sit Alicia down and explain it all to her?”
    I began weaving together tapestries of curse words in my mind, inventing colorful ways of inviting Alicia and all of her bridesmaids to go to hell. I wanted to tell Alicia that she didn’t deserve Gabe, or the rest of the Parker family, for that matter. Heat rose from the collar of my shirt like a teapot, warming my face. Just as I was toying with the idea of flipping the table over and screaming like Tarzan, someone else wormed his way into my thoughts.
    Gabe .
    Whether or not I liked it, Gabe loved Alicia Von Longorial. He’d made his choice, and if I loved him, or ever had , I would make it work between Alicia and me, no matter what it took. I didn’t like her. Not even a little bit. But Gabe loved her, and I loved Gabe. That had to be enough for me. Even if it meant going against my natural instinct to cuss like a trucker and possibly pull some hair extensions out of their